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(To assemble a
variety of buildings and other scenic items for a 15mm sci-fi
desert planet.) |
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| 16 October 2011 |
Majority of desert buildings
completed |
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I've been working on the
buildings for my desert terrain. They will probably have more painted
details and decals added in future, but my aim has been to get them to a
state ready for gaming first. For each of the buildings shown
below I have described the source of the components and the
construction method used. These are only some of the ones I've
got done, the rest are duplicates or very similar. I only realised after I had taken and
manipulated the photographs, that the camera I was using has a
lens problem distorting the rightside of each image, so apologies for that.
The colour rendition hasn't come out too well either.
When I get the chance to take over the dining table for a game, I'll
photograph all the buildings I've done so far, set out as the
desert settlement I am aiming for. |
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(NB: Click on an image for a larger
version) |
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Vehicle storage hanger |
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As you can see from the third picture,
this building was formed by mounting a section of guttering on
two rectangular pastic box sections. Card ends were then cut out
and fixed on, and large sliding (non-functioning) doors added at
the front made from card with textured plastic card glued on,
along with a top rail of plastic strip. Hatches, windows and
ventilators came from the Mike's excellent range at
www.thesceneuk.com .
P38 car body filler was then used to fill any gaps and to
provide a rough texture to the 80thou plasticard base. The model
was then primered and sprayed with
Plastikote Stone Touch textured paints, both Canyon Rock and
Alabaster, wiping it off from areas I didn't want covered.
Various sand colours were then applied. It works well as a vehicle
garage, and I'm planning to do a second one in due course that
will have a removable roof. Any firefights taking place in it,
or from it, will currently be done on a template sheet placed
off the edge of the board. |
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Ventilator Blocks |
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The core of these buildings are actually
plaster of paris casts taken directly from the plastic packaging
that held Canon inkjet cartridges some 10+ years ago. They had
been sitting in my "they'll be useful one day" heap awaiting a
use. added details are again mostly from
www.thesceneuk.com .
Painting was my standard of grey primer, then Wilkinson's (value
household store store in UK) Sahara Sand from a tester pot
brushed on, a wash of diluted Liquitex Transparent Burnt Umber
ink, then a drybrush of Wilkinson's Sand. This applies to all
the following building unless noted. The building is solid, so
again any firefights taking place in
it, or from it, will be done on a template sheet placed off the
edge of the board. I have made five of these, and they are
linked to an underground complex I'm planning to create
using my 15mm Interiors scenery efforts. |
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Power Plant |
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These power plants are formed from a
single 48mm high pattress box (UK electrical socket box) with a
blanking plate on top. Additional details again mostly from
www.thesceneuk.com . The
roof isn't removable, so again any
firefights taking place in it, or from it, will be done on a
template sheet placed off the edge of the board. I have
made two of these. |
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Communications Building |
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These power plants are formed from a
double 48mm high pattress box (UK electrical double socket box)
with a blanking plate on top. Additional details again mostly
from www.thesceneuk.com
. The access ramp is just sanded balsa wood. When I get my next
batch of etchings done (probably after Christmas), these will
include two different size communications masts to mount on top
of the buildings.The roof isn't removable, so again any
firefights taking place in it, or from
it, will be done on a template sheet placed off the edge of the
board. I have made two of these. |
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Command Building |
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These two buildings are from Mike's
original desert range at
www.thesceneuk.com . Using his shuttered windows, I have
modelled a matching pair, one with the shutters and door closed,
the other with them all open. To make the open shutters meant
cutting out the whitemetal from the centre of each one, as they
were originally just flat metal and I wanted any figures inside
to be visible. The roofs are also removable. Hopefully Mike will
consider making just the frames available for his next
generation of buildings, as they do improve the look of the
models. Same with the door. Took quite a bit of effort to do,
but fortunately I've still got all my fingers!
These two
buildings were painted differently from all the others. I tried
using Halford's (UK car spares company) Ford Sierra Beige spray
as the basecoat. Were there really cars painted that colour? The
glossy surface worked differently with the Liquitex ink, and
looks okay with a drybrush of sand acrylic afterwards.
Considering the cost of the Halford's spray compared to spray
primer and cheap acrylic, I doubt I'll repeat it. |
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Standard Building |
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This is typical of the group of
buildings that I bought from
www.thesceneuk.com . All have had an external air
conditioners added, and most also have roof ventilators/chimneys, from
the same source. Roofs are all removable and have been painted
in my standard scheme. I have about a dozen of these, including
larger buildings of the same style. |
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Future planned
items include fuel and water storage tanks, workshops, entrance
to an underground base, and the clutter we're used to seeing in
sci-fi films. |
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| 04 October 2011 |
Creating a desert terrain base
for 15mm sci-fi gaming |
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I have been looking for a
way to create an easy to store desert terrain base for my 15mm
sci-fi gaming. The space available for gaming is limited to my
dining table. The solution was three sheets of A1 (594mm ×
841mm, 23.39" × 33.11") 10mm thick foamboard, each of which was
covered with a brushed sand coloured material that I got as a
clearance remnant. I used double sided tape on the top surface,
and duct tape on the reverse. The ripples aren't as noticeable
when there is scenery on it, and I can cope with the joins. The
foamboard doesn't seem to have warped much, and stores easily in
the cheap artisit's portfolio carrier that I bought. It also
slides easily under a bed for storage.
To improve the texture of the surface, I sprayed on
patches of Plastikote Stone Touch textured paints, both Canyon
Rock and Alabaster. After allowing the first coat to dry
thoroughly, additional patches were applied to even out any bald
patches. After taking in and out of the storage bag several
times, I've not noticed much loss of the spray texture. If it
does start to wear, I'll just spray on more Plastikote. At some
stage in the future I also intend to make some trackways out of
the remaining cloth and spraying them with different shades. |
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